Lasagna Please – Episode 19
Written by Rachel, Posted in A Cooking Show with Rachel O, Abundant Harvest Organics, This Week's Feast, Thoughts
This is episode 19. I’m excited about that. I made Spinach and Cheese Lasagna. I love that I used all the spinach from my Abundant Harvest Organics box today. I’m impressed with myself. I hate it when I don’t use all the spinach and it goes bad, and I have to put some of it in the compost. Not this week! In addition to spinach from this week’s box, there’s tomatoes, in the homemade tomato sauce, spring onions, and green garlic. When we ate it for dinner, I served it with a Caesar Salad, which uses lettuce and lemons.
Do you think this is smart? I’d never made lasagna before, and decided to make up a recipe and do it for this week’s episode. It’s OK if you say no. I’m shaking my head at it a little. Thankfully it tastes good… I guess it’s hard to ruin pasta, homemade tomato sauce, a bit of bacon, cheese, and wilted spinach. I think I could have done it though. If I were to make this again, I’d say make more sauce. You need more than you think you will, Rachel!!! Now I know. I also know that you should cook the noodles right before you’re going to use them. Otherwise they get sticky. I’m telling you these things so you can learn from my mistakes. 🙂
I dropped a noodle on the floor by accident. The dog came over and tried to eat the whole thing at once. Not a good idea. He dropped it back on the floor. Lesson to be learned: one whole lasagna noodle is too big for the dog. Rip it up. (I did, don’t worry. He ate it and was happy happy happy.)
I used fresh herbs from my garden!!! Yay, hooray, hip hippity! My parsley and oregano are growing like crazy! My basil is making an attempt. My rosemary is still alive, and that’s a good thing. I love fresh herbs!
I accidentally filmed the cupboards instead of the tomato sauce I was trying to puree. Whoops. I think it’s funny, so I left it in. 🙂
I’ve been looking at the photo of the lasagna. I wondering if it would be good with a fried egg on top. I might try that with some of the leftovers. I’ll let you know if it’s a good idea.
These cute cups are from my friend Shannon. She gave them to me for my birthday (don’t worry, you didn’t miss it, it’s coming up in a few weeks ;)). I love them!!!
Spinach and Cheese Lasagna
Last modified on 2012-07-19 20:57:33 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
| Spinach and Cheese Lasagna |
- 1 lb. lasagna noodles
- 6-8 C spinach, chopped
- salt
- pepper
- pinch nutmeg
- 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 C (8oz.) cottage cheese
- 1/4 C Greek yogurt
- 6 cloves garlic, diced
- 1/2 C spring onion, diced
- 2 T olive oil
- 4 C tomato sauce
- 1 C (8 oz.) fresh mozzarella, 1/2″ cubes
- 1 C parmesan, grated (divided 2/3 C, 1/3 C)
- 1/2 C water (opt.)
- 1 T olive oil
- Fresh herbs for topping (like basil, parsley, oregano)
- Parmesan cheese, for topping.
- Boil water. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Heat pan, add olive oil. Add garlic and onion, cook 2 minutes. Add seasonings and spinach, a little bit at a time and wilt.
- Mix cheeses, cottage cheese, and yogurt.
- Cook pasta for 8-10 minutes.
- In greased 9×13 oven-safe dish, layer: tomato sauce, noodles (don’t overlap them), cheese mixture, a bit of tomato sauce, noodles, spinach mixture, noodles… sprinkle bacon over one layer… repeat until all ingredients are gone (unless you have extra noodles, don’t pile those on!). Top layer should have tomato sauce.
- Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Top with a sprinkle of olive oil (opt.), pour a bit of water around the side (if noodles need a bit more liquid), and top with reserved parmesan cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes.
- Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve topped with a little more parmesan and some fresh herbs.
On the episode I felt like I could have had more filling, so here are the changes I would make:
1 1/2 C parmesan, grated (divided 1 C, 1/2 C)
2 C (16oz.) cottage cheese
2 C (16 oz.) fresh mozzarella, 1/2″ cubes
Great with a caesar salad!
Tomato Sauce
Last modified on 2012-07-19 20:57:36 GMT. 1 comment. Top.
| Tomato Sauce |
- 5 medium tomatoes
- 1/2 C red wine
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 T fresh oregano, chopped
- 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 T fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 green garlic, chopped
- 1/4 C spring onion (or regular onion)
- 1 T balsamic vinegar
- 2 slices bacon, finely chopped (opt. – could sub smoked paprika and 2 T olive oil)
- 1-2 T olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 C pasta water (opt.)
- Prepare an ice bath (bowl of water and ice). In a soup pot, boil water. Score each tomato with an X, not cutting too deep. Submerge tomatoes in water and cook 1 minute. Remove from hot water and place in ice bath (to stop the cooking). When they’re cool enough to handle, peel tomatoes (skin should come right off). Chop tomatoes.
- Cook bacon. Remove from pan and set aside. In same pan, add olive oil, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, cook 3 minutes. Add herbs, wine, balsamic vinegar, and cook 30 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally (turn heat down if liquid evaporates and it starts to burn, or just add more liquid). (Opt.: Add about 1/2 C pasta water, if you’re making it with pasta.)
- Either use the sauce as is (chunky), or puree with immersion blender or regular blender (remove middle stopper to let steam escape, and cover lid with a towel).
This makes about 2 C of sauce. For lasagna recipe, you may want to double this!
The bacon can either be used in the lasagna, or added to the sauce at the end. 🙂
This episode sponsored by
This meal can be found on Wednesday of this week’s menu!
